The Country BearsThis is a movie based on a Disney theme park attraction. This is a movie in which people in animatronic bear suits pretend to be real talking bears who...The Country BearsKids and Family, ComedyPT88MGThis is a movie based on a Disney theme park attraction. This is a movie in which people in animatronic bear suits pretend to be real talking bears who...2002-07-24Brad GarrettDon HenleyElton JohnQueen LatifahEli MarienthalWillie NelsonStephen TobolowskyChristopher WalkenBrad Garrett, Don Henley, Elton John, Queen Latifah, Eli Marienthal, Willie Nelson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Christopher WalkenWalt Disney Pictures

This is a movie based on a Disney theme park attraction. This is a movie in which people in animatronic bear suits pretend to be real talking bears who were once members of a famous country music band and are now just aging, working-stiff bears. Then a preteen bear (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) who’s sad because he doesn’t resemble the rest of his adopted non-bear family reunites the band through a combination of flattery and nagging. It’s sort of an ursine ”The Last Waltz,” with more costumes and no direction from Martin Scorsese.

The whole talking-animal thing is grisly in The Country Bears, but there are some diversions. Christopher Walken delivers a singular, non-Method performance as a mean (non-bear) bank manager who performs an armpit-fart version of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. And non-bear musicians including Elton John and Queen Latifah make cameo appearances.